


A Family of Her Own

by heavenzfiend



Category: AFTER LIFE 소원을 담는 만화경 | AFTER LIFE: The Sacred Kaleidoscope (Visual Novel)
Genre: Bittersweet Ending, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Feels, Father Figures, Parenthood, Raising a child together, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, implied child neglect
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25939480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heavenzfiend/pseuds/heavenzfiend
Summary: You’re faced with an unexpected task of caring for a child but a savior comes along in the form of Youssef who slowly steals both your and the child’s heart.
Relationships: Youssef/Reader (Manager)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 35





	A Family of Her Own

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a story about raising a child together! Since I'm not sure if you can get pregnant in the afterlife, I decided to go the route of caring for a child who shows up randomly one day. This is so wholesome and sweet!... but I got so emotional writing it, especially towards the end! I hope you like what I came up with! Thank you and enjoy! :)

Opening the door to Nyang Lead Manager’s room, you were puzzled by the sight that awaited you— a flustered looking Nyang Lead Manager with Housemaster Sei crouched down on the floor, focusing on something in the corner of the room. You stepped completely into the room and piped up, “You called for me?” 

The feline face lit up as he shrilled, “Hisssss, thank goodness you’re finally here, Manager. Here, meet Kang Mina, the newest member of our department meow.” Following that introduction, the housemaster stood up, turned towards you with a weary smile and stepped aside, revealing a small toddler.

When Nyang Lead Manager summoned you for an urgent task, you would’ve never in a million Soul Reaper Era years guessed that this was what was in store for you. According to their explanation, the 14th Department Branch Chief randomly found the little girl wandering in the Otherworld and, wanting to gain favors from the upper management, promised to take her on and help her fulfill her wish and then more-or-less dumped the responsibility on the unsuspecting cat.

The little girl in front of you was scrunched up in a ball, hugging her teddy bear in a tight embrace while her shoulders bobbed from the sniffles, tears glistening from her doleful eyes. 

“Mina, nice to meet you!” You acted extra cheerful to ease the child’s nerves. You told her your name and tried to approach her on careful, steady steps. She had used her long, jet black hair to shyly cover her face from the housemaster but her countenance brightened at your arrival just a bit and the tears stopped, thankfully. 

“Ah, it seems as if she’s more comfortable in your presence than mine.” Housemaster Sei scratched the back of his head before adjusting his glasses and clearing his throat into his fist. “Anyways, Nyang Lead Manager and I have decided that you would be the most fitting out of all of us to look after her while she remains with us. Do you think you can do it?” 

It wasn’t that you had no worries about taking care of a small child but you had prior experience with kids, considering you had two younger siblings, and considering how the girl was looking up at you with interest now, there was no way you could refuse. 

“Yes, of course. Leave her to me.” You saw both Nyang Lead Manager and Housemaster Sei sigh in relief at your confident answer. 

You crouched low in front of her and asked, “How old are you, Mina?” Moments passed with no response but she finally brought up four, tiny fingers before digging her face into her stuffed animal. “Oh, you’re four years old? That’s so cool! You’re such a big girl!”

“For some reason, she won’t speak. I think she is capable of doing so though,” the housemaster commented from the side and he dropped his voice low for your ears only. “Perhaps she experienced psychological or emotional trauma.” 

A knock at the door startled both you and the child and you took her tiny hand in yours. She clutched it so tightly that you were amazed at how much strength such a small body could produce while noting that she was extremely nervous at everything. Poor thing. You had no idea what caused her to come to the Soul Reaper department in general but you couldn’t imagine the suffering she had to endure during her short lifetime to harbor an unfulfilled wish so strong that prevented her from passing onto the next life peacefully. 

“Hello, lovely day today, isn’t it? I’ve come to report-” Youssef tranquilly walked in and started speaking to Nyang Lead Manager until he glanced around and his eyes landed on Mina by your side. “Oh, I see we have a beautiful princess gracing us with her presence,” he said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. He didn’t come any closer to where you were but he gave the little girl such a kind, comforting smile that even _you_ felt relaxed automatically. He always had that talent of making you feel both eased at heart and excitable at the same time— excitable because your heart pounded that much faster whenever he was around but _he_ was not to blame for that. 

Maybe it was due to the gentle tone of his voice or the soft aura he naturally emitted, but contrary to the way she was with the housemaster, Mina immediately opened up to Youssef. In no time at all, she was clinging to his pants, hiding her face behind his legs. Youssef gave a hearty laugh at that and pet her hair like a doting father. 

-

The job of caring for Mina was originally assigned to you alone but it soon morphed into a two-person task since the little girl grew so fond of Youssef that she could be found attached to his body most days, quite literally. 

You thought that due to the way she quickly opened up to Youssef she liked men in general but as soon as you guys exited Nyang Lead Manager’s room that first day, you realized that it was not the case— the girl was scared or standoffish with all other reapers who you guys ran into afterwards.

One day while you and Mina were walking down the hallway, she gave the most frightful scream when Ghilley popped out of nowhere from behind a pillar and her loud cries quickly echoed all over the vast walls of the department building. Ghilley tried to de-escalate the situation, but his signature laugh prompted even more wailing that he slowly inched away from the scene of chaos, leaving with only an apologetic gaze your way. Quincy came and conjured up devil’s cotton candy for the four-year-old to no avail. 

“Ahhh, stop crying will ya?! It’s driving me crazy!” Quincy yelled in frustration.

“Oh, Miss Mina, you must’ve been so scared! Don’t worry, it's not too loud, achoo!” Even Ell, who had shown up to help as the Class Leader, could not do anything in the face of a crying child. 

Unsurprisingly, things only settled down once Youssef showed up. The 14th department’s oldest Soul Reaper promptly held her to his chest and wiped the tears from her cherubic face, cooing, “There, there, I’m here now. There’s nothing to worry about.” Technically, he was already _raising_ nineteen younger siblings in a way, so Youssef seemed to have no trouble dealing with the newest, youngest member of the department. 

-

Before long, no one was surprised to see Youssef walking around with a giggling Mina perched on his shoulders or fast asleep on his back after a long day of following him around during his daily tasks like a baby chick chirping after her father. The paternal role came to him quite naturally and it made you fall that much more in love with him to witness it in all its glory.

Mina slept with you in your room but every morning, without fail, Youssef came to comb and braid her hair. Having experience with braiding Quincy’s hair, his hands were far from clumsy and Mina’s mood always improved immensely after getting her hair done into intricate designs by her favorite person in the afterlife.

The more time you spent together, the more you found yourself growing attached to Mina, as well as the reliable Youssef. You weren’t sure if your eyes were deceiving you but you started finding similarities between Mina and Youssef. Stranger still was that it almost seemed like the child resembled not only Youssef but you, as well. It was an odd, odd sensation.

-

“Thank you for all that you do for me and Mina, Youssef,” you said one day during dinner at a child-friendly restaurant. You fondly observed as the man cut the chicken cutlet into bite-sized pieces for Mina’s easy consumption.

“I told you that I’ll always be here to help you, Manager, and I meant that. Plus, both of you are very important to me.” Youssef answered after a brief consideration and then wiped Mina’s cheeks with a napkin since it seemed like more sauce found its way on her face than actually in her mouth.

You were sure that from anyone else’s perspective looking in, the three of you looked like the perfect little family and you began to selfishly wonder if Mina could stay with you for a long, long time and that if you and Youssef can create a family like this in the future as well, if she were to ever leave.

That night, Youssef read her a nighttime story about a lost princess who went on a journey to find her parents and Mina whined when he kissed her goodnight and was about to leave after finishing the book. She non-verbally begged and begged if she could sleep with both of you guys and you could tell Youssef was torn. Although at first he sternly said no, probably out of consideration for you, but you could tell he didn’t actually want to deny the girl her wish and you also did not mind the sleeping arrangement for the night— it was _just_ for sleep, anyways.

He finally obliged after your reassurance and slipped into the other side of your small bed. He reached over to tuck the blanket securely over you and Mina and then planted a gentle kiss on top of both Mina’s and the teddy bear’s head. Then, after a brief hesitation, he brushed the delicate hair strands on your forehead back and placed a kiss so soft that you almost couldn’t believe if it actually happened or not.

“I love you,” Youssef whispered to the night air and you couldn’t be sure to whom he was addressing but dared not ask. Sandwiched between her two favorite souls in the entire universe, Mina slept with the most content face a baby could make that night.

You woke up in the early mornings to the chirping of birds outside and the sight that greeted you was a happy looking Mina sitting in bed, twirling Youssef’s hair in her small hands. You chuckled at the heartwarming sight and Youssef made incoherent groans before drowsily opening his eyes. 

Without warning, Mina looked at Youssef, opened her mouth and spoke her first word since coming to live with you here.

“Daddy.”

You gasped and your eyes instantly watered from the overwhelming emotions flooding you. Youssef seemed equally as shocked but didn’t outwardly show it as you did, embracing her small frame into his bigger one instead.

“Yes, baby.” He spoke to the top of her head as his arms looped around her tiny body.

Mina waited until Youssef loosened his hold on her, turned around and addressed you.

“I’ve always… wanted a family… a mommy and daddy to love me… so much. Thank you, mommy and daddy. I’ll never forget you.” Mina gave a dazzling smile so blissful that her entire being began to glow and with a glittering light, a fluttering butterfly replaced the little girl in your bed whom you’ve grown so attached to.

Her unfulfilled wish was to have a family of her own, it seemed, and now that her wish had come true, you were left with only the memories of a child that brought immense joy into your life and connected you to an afterlife love as well.

You dissolved in an emotional mess in your pillow, the contrasting feelings of bitter-sweetness, of happiness that your girl finally fulfilled her wish mixing with the pain of seeing her vanish right before your eyes. The tears did not stop for a long time after that but Youssef was there to wrap his arms around you, rubbing his hands on your back as he soothingly whispered words of reassurance until you settled down. You were sure he was also heavily affected by Mina leaving, no less than you were by any means, but you could tell he was squashing his own pain to focus on your emotional wellbeing foremost, being the selfless man that he was. 

As the effervescent butterfly lingered in your room that morning as if she was blessing both of you with everlasting happiness, you wished her a safe journey wherever she was headed while comfortingly being held by Youssef.

“Thank _you_ , Mina, for allowing us to be your mommy and daddy.”

**Author's Note:**

> My plan was to write this theme for various different characters but this was too... emotional... that I don't know if I wanna do any more *laugh* but I did want to write Kirr and Ethan with a child, at least. Not sure if it'll happen but we shall see! Thank you so much for reading and let me know how you liked it! Have a wonderful day! :)


End file.
